How Baylor’s coaching change impacts LSU recruiting

With LSU’s reinvigorated recruiting efforts in the Lone Star State, the Tigers have found themselves in numerous battles with Baylor for elite prospects.

That includes prominent members of the Class of 2017.

Three names that jump to the forefront of that discussion include a quartet of four-star recruits, including safety Grant Delpit, cornerback Kary Vincent Jr. and defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson, who the Tigers are courting as a stand-up outside linebacker in their new 3-4 scheme.

Delpit, who has surfaced as LSU’s top safety target in this year’s recruiting cycle, included Baylor in his top 10 last month.

LSU has led the way for the nation’s No. 11 overall safety, and after the reported dismissal of Baylor coach Art Briles on Thursday, the Tigers could be on their way to solidifying their position.

“Me and Coach Briles were close,” Delpit told SEC Country. “He was one of the my favorite head coaches, so I don’t know … I have to think on it.”

Delpit visited Baylor earlier this spring, but his strong opinion about the bears was based heavily on his relationship with the head coach.

With a new coach set to replace Briles, Baylor will face an uphill climb in restarting its relationship with the prized safety. That could bode well for LSU’s chances of staying on top of Delpit’s list.

Like Delpit, Chaisson is one of the Tigers’ most coveted prospects at his position.

The nation’s No. 7 weak-side defensive end told SEC Country that LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda believes Chaisson is an ideal fit as an edge-rusher in his unit.

LSU’s stiffest competition for the standout defender comes from Baylor, where his father, Kelvin Chaisson, played his linebacker for the program.

Chaisson has been quiet for most of the spring, but the coaching change may have the standout defender rethinking his relationship.

The same goes for fellow Texan, Vincent, Jr.

Earlier this week, in the aftermath of a weekend at LSU, Vincent was in the process of trimming his list of top schools and had planned on releasing his top 10.

Soon after getting word of the reported coaching change at Baylor, Vincent told SEC Country that he was re-evaluating his stance with the program.

“I was real close to Coach Briles,” he said as he absorbed the news.

Like LSU, Baylor was a team in contention to crack Vincent’s top 10.

However, in light of the change with the Bears, the Memorial High School (Port Arthur, Texas) product told SEC Country that the he “definitely” wanted to press the reset button on where the Bears stood in his recruitment.

Baylor cracked Smith’s top-10 list last month, but now a source close to the five-star Amite (La.) High School product told SEC Country said that he was doing everything to gather as much information on the situation, using the term, “shocked,” to describe the receiver’s reaction this afternoon.

Like Smith, the trio of elite Texas prospects are all monitoring the situation very closely awaiting every development. While the news comes as a shock to many, LSU may pick some ground with some of these recruits considering both Baylor and the Tigers.

Of course, we’re about to brace for a whole new phase in the recruiting period in which prospect and satellite camps are poised to take center stage. That also means the LSU coaches are gearing up for as much, too, particularly as they prepare to travel to the Lone Star State in about two week’s time to see so many of these aforementioned prospects firsthand.

Sam Spiegelman covers LSU football recruiting for SECCountry.com and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on who’s on their way to play in Tigers Stadium.